This invention relates to a safety device attached to hinged doors in the form of a spring loaded stopper means for preventing injuries to small children by precluding them from being able to close hinged doors that are left open.
On several occasions, in the process of manipulating a hinged door, a child injures itself severely by insertion of its fingers or other body parts in the gap created therein on the front face of a bi-fold door or the gap created between a hinged door and the fixed door frame. Also, it is very common among playful children to shut themselves alone inside a room by closing the hinged door, thereby causing considerable anxiety among parents and elders tending to such children.
In prior art, several devices have been proposed to address the first of the aforementioned problems. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,862 a foldable, accordian-like protective member that extends over at least a portion of the height of the front and/or rear face opening of a hinged door is proposed. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,077 a safety device covering the vertical edge of a hinged door and adjacent jamb on the hinge side is discussed. Both the devices, by folding and unfolding actions, cover up the gap created by the opening and closing of the hinged door. Such devices address only part of the problems commonly associated with hinged doors. Also, these devices are not portable, and are cumbersome to make, transport and install. In addition, these devices can daface the doors if they were to be removed for some reason.